In Myanmar, the staple diet is rice; a grain has shaped the landscape of the Irrawaddy Delta. Paddy cultivation is still predominately organic and not mechanized.

From the ploughing, broadcasting of seed, the replanting of nursery seedlings, to harvest and threshing, all the work is done without the use of machines. It was also been stated that rice production generates a direct or indirect income for many as 75 percent of the population. Prior to World War II, Myanmar was the world’s largest rice producer and even today after years of economic and political isolation it is still in the top ten.

During my recent visit, it was harvest time. While traveling across country I stopped off at a few fields to photograph the harvest and the winnowing of rice. The whole process is backbreaking work done under the glare of a hot sun.

I have nothing but admiration for the farmers grafting for little more than a subsistence lifestyle.